Propylene/olefin elastomers, made with a single site or metallocene catalyst, are commercially available from The Dow Chemical Company under the trade name Versify® and from ExxonMobil under the trade name Vistamaxx®. These elastomers are characterized in having propylene content less than 98 weight percent, narrow molecular weight distributions (MWD<3.5), density range of 0.85-0.89 g/cm3, Tg<−10° C., and elastic recovery >80%. Such elastomers are disclosed in WO 00/01745, U.S. Pat. No. 7,109,269 B2 and in C. P. Bosniak et al., Polymeric Materials: Science & Engineering 2003, 89, 677. Propylene/olefin elastomers find use in applications such as impact modifiers, elastomeric film and fibers, compatibilizers, and polyolefin based thermoplastic elastomer applications e.g. molded goods.
Chlorosulfonated ethylene/alpha-olefin copolymers are known in the art. U.S. Pat. No. 5,668,220 discloses such copolymers made from metallocene catalyzed ethylene/alpha-olefin resins.
Chlorosulfonated polyethylene elastomers and chlorosulfonated ethylene copolymer elastomers have been found to be very good elastomeric materials for use in applications such as wire and cable jacketing, molded goods, automotive hose, power transmission belts, roofing membranes and tank liners. These materials are noted for their balance of oil resistance, thermal stability, ozone resistance and chemical resistance.
Chlorosulfonated propylene/ethylene copolymers useful as nucleating agents are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,903,059. These crystalline copolymers have >80% hot heptane insolubles.
Chlorosulfonated grafted (e.g. maleated) propylene/ethylene copolymers are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,527,571 as primers for promoting the adhesion of plastics in laminates.
It would be desirable to have chlorosulfonated propylene/olefin elastomers that are either amorphous, or contain a low level of crystallinity, wherein the chlorosulfonated elastomers are made from base resins of the metallocene catalyzed propylene/olefin elastomers described above. Such chlorosulfonated propylene/olefin elastomers would form soft, non-plasticized interlayer bonding agents for bonding polar materials to non polar flexible materials, e.g. barrier films. Other uses of these elastomers include to reactively incorporate stabilizers for increased thermal stability, or to be converted into functional groups not currently present in traditional grafted polypropylene base stocks.